Episode #154 Housetraining Tips and Tricks

Ever wished you could get your new puppy or older dog house trained quickly and effectively? Well, guess what? You can! I'm Amy Jensen, your canine coach, and this episode of the Puppy Training Podcast is all about mastering the art of house training. I'll be sharing my top tips for establishing an effective routine, using crates and baby gates, and setting a timer to help make this process fun and stress-free. And remember, patience and consistency are key!

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

This is the Puppy Training Podcast, episode 154, house Training Tips and Tricks. This podcast is designed to help you on your journey of becoming best friends through love and learning, as you train your own dog from home, and I'm here to help you every step of the way. This is the Puppy Training Podcast and I'm your host, amy Jensen. Hey everybody, how are you this week? Thanks for listening. I really appreciate it.

Speaker 1: 0:33

House Training a new dog whether it's a new puppy or if it's an older dog that you're adopting who is new to your home both require patience, consistency and positive reinforcement. But first I want you to know about our YouTube channel. We have been updating this lately. We are working hard to provide you with free training tips via video, so you can check that out at Baxter and Bella that's our tag name. I'm always up for tips you'd like to see. So go to our YouTube, hit, subscribe and then leave a comment of training tips or things that you want me to post there on that page, and I'll see what I can do. But for today, let's talk House Training. This can be something that makes having a dog great or, if this doesn't go well, can make having a dog really hard. So here at Baxter and Bella, we like to make sure that you have a good foundation of how to house train your dog, how to do it successfully, as well as what to do when mistakes happen, because they will happen. So go easy on yourself, be nice. House Training is definitely a process and it takes time, but there's some things that you can do to make it easier and better.

Speaker 1: 1:42

Let's start out by talking about new puppies. First, with a brand new pup, start by establishing a routine. We just let them know that every so often we take them outside to go potty. So I'll put them on a little leash and set a timer. I have one of those old kitchen timers that you just rotate to 20 minutes or maybe 30 minutes with a brand new puppy, and when that goes off it's just a reminder hey, it's time to take the puppy out and see if they need to go to the bathroom. So I'm going to do that often enough that it just becomes routine that they just know, every 20 to 30 minutes, while they're awake and running around and playing or doing training sessions or whatever it is that they are doing as they are active, that there will be a potty, a break right, a potty session happens every 20 to 30 minutes. So we're establishing that routine and they know it. We're going to use both management tools like crates, training techniques to guide their behavior and to drift them.

Speaker 1: 2:36

So I mentioned crates. These are a valuable house training tool. Dogs naturally try to avoid soiling their living space, which makes it really effective to use in house training. So gradually we introduce the crate. We make it fun, we play crate games. So toss a treat inside the puppy runs in, they can come right back out again. Toss a treat inside the puppy runs in, they get to come right back out again. So going in and out of their crate becomes this fun little game, but we allow the puppy to associate it with safety and comfort inside their crate. Whenever it's crate time, they get yummy chews, right. This is when they get that stuffed Kong or that Westpaw topple or something that they just love To work on for a little bit and they might choose to chew on it and they might not, but they have the option.

Speaker 1: 3:20

Okay, a similar to crates, we can also use baby gates. So putting up a baby gate in between, like a kitchen and a great room or you know, to block off this hallway or that hallway or the laundry room, right. We can use baby gates to create smaller spaces larger than crates but smaller than room size as that next Location that the puppy gets to be able to get used to and claim as their own. So first they learn not to soil their crate, right, and they're going to spend a lot of time in that crate, and that's okay. They get a lot of time out of the crate too, but a lot of time in the crate, and then they're spending time in this smaller space using the baby gates to create these smaller spaces. Or you can use pins so these are just exercise pins or similar to like a playpen for a child, and it's usually like four by four feet or six by six feet. You can make them really as large as you want by connecting them or keeping them as small as that four by four foot space, but it gives that puppy a little larger space to be in, not quite as big as a room, like I mentioned, but they're going to start to own that space and not want to soil it, but we want to basically limit their access to certain areas of our house until they've mastered the basics.

Speaker 1: 4:26

So what I'm watching for is when my puppies in these spaces are they keeping it clean, are they holding it, are they waiting for that next potty break to come and they're wanting to keep that space clean. That's when I'm ready to expand that space a little bit bigger. So we just go room by room in our house. We open up one room at a time and we're not opening up the next room until our puppy is successful at going potty and Keeping that current room clean, because they're going potty outside, all right. So we have a motto here at Baxter and Bella. It's our dog must pee to play.

Speaker 1: 4:56

If I take my dog out and they don't go, I simply keep them on a leash with me inside my house or I put them in their crate with a chew and I'll try again in 15 To 20 minutes. So most puppies will go quickly if they need to go. If they start to goof off or play around outside, they most likely can hold it for longer. So I can that timer that I'm setting every 20 to 30 minutes. Maybe I can up that to 40 minutes right, because at 30 minutes when I take them outside to go potty they're just goofing off. So I know that they're not really needing to go at 30 minutes. Does that make sense? So 40 minutes, 50 minutes, I wouldn't go too much time extra and I would keep a really close eye on them from that additional time. So if I went from 30 to 40 minutes, those last 10 minutes I would definitely really closely supervise them and watch for signs that they might need to go out. And if I notice they need to go out then I'll just take them out earlier. But if they go out and they just are goofing off, that's your signal to okay, I can add a little more time to the clock in between these breaks.

Speaker 1: 5:52

If, if it helps, keep a journal. I have house training charts in our program in our printable section. That you can print out is just a little place that you can Document times that your dog went. I like to document both pee and poop because pee can be put on cue right, we can cue a dog to go pee and they can produce pee, yeah, but poop just happens, guys. So pay attention to the times of day your dog needs to do their business and chart it. That way you'll start to see their patterns, I'll you know. I know Baxter goes poop every morning first thing, and he also goes poop in the evening after Mealtime and I can watch for those two times. Okay, if you don't know when that's about to happen, you're going to spend a lot of time outside wondering when is this going to happen? So just chart it. You'll start to see your puppies Patterns and be able to watch for that. Most puppies you guys that are young, just little puppies starting out they will poop probably four to six times a day. That's very normal, but as they get to adulthood It'll dwindle down to one to two times a day. So that's the good news.

Speaker 1: 6:48

All right, older dogs may have different needs and habits. So if I'm bringing home an older dog let's say I adopted a two-year-old dog and they've been living with someone else or somewhere else, obviously, and now they're coming to my house, I'm going to treat that situation just like they're a brand new puppy, essentially. So they will have the exact same house training rules that I would with a brand new puppy. They get one room of my house until they can reliably show me that they need to go outdoors, to go to the bathroom and they're keeping that one room clean. Then I'll open up the next room and usually I'll wait a couple of days to about a week for that dog to show me hey, I really am keeping this room clean. Then I'll open up the next room and I'll wait for them to have zero accidents for, say, a week at a time and then we'll go to the next room. If at some point they're having accidents, I just shrink down the space again. We go back to one room or two rooms wherever we're at. Okay. So it's always okay to just go back in the process if needed.

Speaker 1: 7:41

So recognize that these older dogs just have some different needs and habits. They might come with habits, they might come with not great house training behaviors, right. So we do just want to kind of start over with them fresh in our new home and I just observe their behavior closely and adjust as needed. So again, consistency remains the key, regardless of the age of dog you are house training and positive reinforcement is huge. So treats, praise, whatever your dog likes or as a reinforcer to them for good behavior. So in bringing home an older dog, again we're house training them the same way as I would an eight week old puppy, but the major difference again recognizes they'll be able to hold it for longer periods of time. Their bladders are much stronger, so I'm not going to get as many repetitions of success each day simply because the puppies can go out multiple times in an hour right Then need to go. But an older dog is not going to need to go out as often, so it might just be they go out every three to four hours and I'm only going to get a few of those repetitions a day. So just recognize it might take longer for them to develop this pattern of success because they're just not getting as many repetitions in a day. And that's OK. If they were house training a previous home or with a previous family, then maybe they just need a little refresher course at your house and it might go really quickly.

Speaker 1: 8:55

As we get further down the road and I'm seeing my puppy has a good routine I like to teach my dog to signal me when they need to go out. It's really nice that they have a way to communicate to me the fact that they need to get outside. So we like to introduce potty bells by hanging them on the doorknob. We just teach our dogs to ring them before going outside. So before that door opens we want to hear a little ring of the bells. Now consistency is crucial. Always lead them to the designated bathroom spot. This takes time. It can take several weeks and or months, you guys, for our dogs to fully connect that ringing the bells means I need to go potty At first, they will realize ringing the bells means I go outside.

Speaker 1: 9:31

That's going to be what happens first. So it's going to seem like that's all they know, and I get that a lot from my clients. They'll say, well, my puppy just rings the bells to go outside and I say perfect, that's the stage you're at. That's the point that they've made it in that training process. You're not done yet. So we just keep being consistent. With a ring the bells, we take them outside, but we take them to that potty area Immediately after they ring the bells to help them make that association. And after doing that consistently that every time the bells rings the door open, we go outside to the potty area They'll start to connect the dot that the bells lead to the potty area. But that takes a while and some people stop as soon as the puppy's just ringing the bells to go outside. You're getting there. You're just not there yet. So, if needed, you can always just put those bells away right after they go potty. So they ring the bells, they go outside, they go potty, they come back inside. Just put the bells away for like an hour or when they'll need them again and then bring them back out. But it will take weeks for them to create that pattern of oh, I ring the bells, that means I need to go potty outside, and now they know how to signal you.

Speaker 1: 10:29

Also, another tip for today would be accidents. You guys, accidents happen, especially during the learning process. So be patient, try to stay calm and avoid punishment, as punishment often creates anxiety around bathroom habits and it stresses our dogs out. Remember, anywhere outside is better than inside. Taking your dog to the same location every time will help them want to go in that specific spot. However, sometimes we have a puppy that doesn't want to go in that spot and they feel like they're being forced to go in that spot. Oftentimes, the more they feel forced to do it, the more they go against that, if you will. So if they feel like all of this pressure around going to the bathroom, you'll probably end up with more accidents, simply because there's a lot of stress involved around trying to keep them in this four by four foot space to go to the bathroom. So, if needed, open that up a little bit, expand it a little bit.

Speaker 1: 11:19

We don't want to create stress around going to the bathroom outside. We want going to the bathroom outside to be a positive experience and, yes, over time we can dwindle that space down to more of a specific space that you're wanting. But initially, with a brand new puppy or a new dog, we don't want to create stress around house training. So try not to make it too much about a power struggle and this one exact spot. Right, let your dog sniff around a little bit. Give them a little more leeway on the space that they're allowed to go, and I think you'll find more success.

Speaker 1: 11:50

So accidents, accidents happen. If one does happen, try not to create undue stress around it. Right, we just simply clean it up. We use an enzymatic cleaner, so something that's going to eliminate the odor and discourage repeat offenses. If the spot smells, your dog will likely be attracted back to it. So make sure you have a cleaner that's going to break down those chemicals and smells and get rid of it all together. If you see your dog start to have an accident, I simply just interrupt with a clap or a hey, let's just go outside puppy, and we redirect them outside to finish.

Speaker 1: 12:23

The key is when they finish outside, to celebrate them. You can't be angry about the fact that your rug now has a little bit of urine on it. We're going to celebrate that. We finished outside. We're going to come back inside, clean that rug thoroughly and move on with our day with actually some praise and happiness around our puppy. We don't want them to feel the negativity around it. All right, those are some house training tips and tricks for you. Remember that timelines are going to vary based on whether you have a new puppy or if you have an older dog and their previous habits, but with consistent efforts, most dogs catch on within a few weeks. Remember, every dog is unique, so be adaptable in your approach. Celebrate the successes and your dog will soon become a house trained companion. All right, you guys have an amazing week. Thanks for listening. Happy training. If you have a question about anything you heard on this podcast or any other puppy training question, visit my site BaxterAndBellacom to contact me.